I’ve never been much for the making of New Year’s resolutions. My way of thinking is more “if a change needs to be made, do it now, don’t wait.” However, as we wave goodbye to 2008 and shake hands with and welcome 2009, we still have a tendency to want to start anew and make changes for the better. So if you want to make a resolution for your email marketing strategies, the best one I can think of is a face-to-face meeting with your ESP.

You can no longer approach your email marketing efforts with the “spray and pray” philosophy. Your ESP is there to provide you with valuable insights on what works, what doesn’t and why. Take advantage of the opportunity to build that relationship with your ESP. What better way to do this than to set aside a half day and meet with your contact at your ESP? Granted, us ESP’s live for emails - we communicate with friends and family via email, make reservations via email, purchase via email, and basically do just about everything via email. As grand as that is, you tend to lose the human side of the relationship, which is so vital to maintaining the account.

More than once I have been a part of a scenario where an account was retained or saved due to the existing relationship between an account and their vendor. You cannot successfully build that relationship purely with phone calls and emails. You must have some face time - it’s critical.

Let’s face it: a one-on-one meeting with your ESP would be a perfect place to start strategizing for your 2009 email marketing campaigns.

While 2008 was an eventful year in email marketing, we’ve had a busy year here at Blue Sky Factory as well. With a strategic acquisition, additions to the team, and recognition as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies by Inc. Magazine, we had a lot of exciting events and announcements. Here’s a look back at just some of our highlights in 2008.

nTarget acquisition: In June we announced our acquisition of nTarget. Focusing on the travel and tourism industry, nTarget brought high profile clients to BSF like Cracker Barrel, Harris Teeter, Picture Me! / Portrait Studios and Columbia Hospitality among many others. Along with John Kirk and Michelle Oglesby joining the team and sharing their expertise, the nTarget acquisition allows Blue Sky Factory to build our service offerings for various industry leaders and provide our new client base with the latest in ESP technology.

New offices and team members: In addition to our new Charlotte, NC office as a result of the nTarget acquisition, Blue Sky Factory also opened up a West Coast presence this year! With Joanna Lawson-Matthew managing the San Francisco-based office, we now have a more national presence with an ability to be more proactive to our West Coast-based clients and extend our support hours.

The BSF team is also growing. Doug Broujos came aboard as the company’s COO in September. An online marketing veteran, Doug is working hard to help take our company to the next level, bringing with him a focus on proactive account management, customer retention and new revenue growth. Other new additions to the team are Jeff Finlay, Technology; Amy Garland, Marketing; Elena Hekimian, Client Services; and Jessica Lowe, Client Services.

Ranked on Inc. 5000’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies List: We are proud to be ranked by Inc. Magazine as #1,861 on its list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.

As we wrap up the end of 2008, I would like to say a heart felt thanks to all of our clients, partners, team members, and other Blue Sky Factory friends for your support in 2008! Here’s to a prosperous New Year to us all! And, on a final note, if you haven’t seen our 2008 holiday card “Fruitcake” yet, be sure to check it out here. Happy New Year!

Email marketing has proved to be an easy and cost effective way to establish and maintain long-lasting relationships with your customers and prospects. The tools available to marketers today provide not only a better subscriber experience, but also new opportunities to build value. Effective email marketing caters to the needs and preferences of your customers and provides timely information. Doing so develops trust and opens the door to two-way communications (positive and negative). Using the information you gain from your subscribers also enables you to better serve their ongoing needs and leverage your message to satisfy your customer’s motivation for subscribing.

Here are tips to effectively acquire, retain and build value with your email marketing program.

Acquire: Make the first impression count

Any successful marketer will tell you that if you want to build a good quality list, get permission from the people on it. If you plan to ignore this step, be prepared for failure. I can’t stress the importance of this step enough - without it there is little or no retention or trust.

If you want your list to grow, simplify the registration process. Refrain from asking for information you’ll never use or need. Once you have a well thought out opt-in form, strategically place it at all your customer touch points, both on-line and off-line. Simply placing a sign up box on each page of your website is a good start.

Once you have permission, send a welcome message immediately and make your first introduction. It’s just like meeting someone for the first time in person, so make your first impression count. Be brief, shake hands and build anticipation for the next email. “Thank you for signing up! Be sure to keep an eye on your inbox for our next email.” Don’t use this message to “hard sell.” You wouldn’t get down on your knee and propose to someone right after you met them, so don’t ask for anything at this point - just introduce yourself.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking quantity over quality. The quality of your list, not the quantity, produces the best results. For inactive subscribers who have not generated any clicks or opens over the past year, try an outreach campaign to see if they’re still there or still interested, and remove those who don’t respond. This will boost your metrics and allow you to concentrate on building long-term relationships with those who engage.

Retain: Build trust

The cost to engage with an existing customer is significantly less than acquiring a new one. It’s critical to live up to the promises you’ve made to your subscriber or you will quickly erode the customer’s trust. Be diligent in respecting the subscriber’s preferences you’ve worked so hard to gather. If a subscriber requests to receive an email once a month, refrain from sending irrelevant offers every week.

Get to know your subscribers better by collecting more information if you didn’t obtain it on the primary sign up form. The more you know about your customer, the more you can tap into their desires and tendencies. Keep in mind that customers are looking for “what’s in it for me” and will gladly serve up personal information if it means getting something in return, so be sure to customize your forms to gather preferences. Over time as the relationship grows stronger, you’ll be able to leverage your message and satisfy the customer’s motivation for subscribing.

Keep a close eye on your frequency, content and types of communications you send. Don’t overburden the recipient by sending too often, and don’t wait three months to send either.

Build Value: Listen to your customers

Getting permission from subscribers and gathering their preferences are both important. Now it’s up to you to listen to your customers and study their responses to build value in the campaigns you send. Campaigns targeted to segmentations by preferences are proven to build stronger and longer-lasting relationships with customers.

It’s all about sending the right message, at the right time, to the right person. Doing this will not only meet your customer’s expectations but consistently exceed them and create a customer for life.

Today is the day before the day before. This means it’s time to reflect on the best things in life - family, friends, and of course, the clients we work with everyday. A fun part of my job is working with customers, understanding their world, and building and strengthening relationships.

Blue Sky Factory was built by Greg Cangialosi, Tim Barton, and the rest of our incredible team client by client, one at a time, with hard work, unending passion, and listening to employees and customers. There is a lesson here about caring for people and relationships that shines through during the Christmas and Hanukkah season. A strong business isn’t built on technology or PCs or the Internet. A strong business is built on a foundation of genuine relationships - something for us all to remember in this season of giving and reflection. And that is the most important gift.

2008 brought great things to the email marketing world. With the increasing popularity of mobile email and social media networks, email is now used more than ever. Mediamark Research & Intelligence found that 74.2% of adults use email, up 5.2% from last fall. Here is the scoop on what happened in email this year:

Mobile email became bigger and badder than ever
With the huge popularity of mobile email readers such as the iPhone 3G and Blackberry Storm, the topic of email on handheld devices became even more heated than usual this year. The EEC predicts that by 2009 60% of emails will be read outside of the inbox. While the newer email devices allow for better HTML rendering, standardization across all mobile readers is still an issue for email marketers. For our recommendations on how to design for mobile, view our whitepaper here.

It’s more difficult than ever to design for the inbox, but easier to find help
Many ISPs have made strides to improve rendering of emails; however, we are still not there yet. For instance, this year Yahoo made a seemingly minor, yet frustrating, change to the way they render paragraph spacing. In short, they no longer support the standard spacing measures and designers were forced to add extra margins to the code to alleviate the problem. Luckily, organizations such as the Email Standards Project have kept email marketers in the know for changes like this, providing documentation and solutions.

Things got tougher for the bad guys
This year the FTC made some long-awaited changes to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. The changes, such as the requirement that recipients must only provide their email address to opt out, weren’t earth shattering for most legitimate marketers but could threaten the practice of shady senders. More bad news for the bad guys: Major cybercrime hosts were taken offline this fall.

Email was still the glue that held it all together
Social media continues to rise in popularity every day and many companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to create buzz through Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media networks. Because email is the most common online identity for internet users, social media networks count on it for reliable communication. After all, email is still the most popular internet application.

To read about predictions for 2009, check out one of our recent Factory Direct articles: “In the Year 2009…”

People are still saying email is dead. Well I’m here to tell you that email is NOT dead, and in fact, is truly the Internets most dominant application. According to a recent survey from Mediamark Research & Intelligence, email is the most popular online activity. About three-quarters (74.2%) of U.S. adults are using email, up 5.2% from fall 2007.

Sure, with the introduction of social media we have other ways to communicate online, but social media actually complements email. How many times do you see an email address attached to a blog post, or how many times do you take a Twitter conversation to email so you can talk in over 140 characters? Once the initial contact or relationship is made via the social web, email then allows you to develop and build upon those relationships. Besides, social media is still making its way into the mainstream, while most people already have and use email addresses. Raise your hand if you check your email several times per day. That’s what I thought - you can all put them down now. Most business professionals are connected to email 24/7 via mobile devices allowing them anytime, anywhere access to email.

With the economy in its current state, many retailers are taking full advantage of email to reach customers with special incentives, and I know many consumers look forward to those emails for discounts and other news.

Other top Internet uses from the study include obtaining the latest news/current events (46%), paying bills online (39.6%), and making a purchase for personal use (37.2%). None of these even come close to email. Email is not dead, and is not going anywhere anytime soon.

*Source: MRI’s Fall 2008 and Fall 2007 Survey of the American Consumer

Do the words “Twitter”, “tweet”, or “tweeple” mean anything to you? If you’re not clued into the social media world then they probably don’t. Twitter is an online social networking tool that allows users to post messages, update their status, ask questions, or share other information – basically anything they want to say that they can fit into 140 characters or less. To “tweet” is to send a message on Twitter, and “tweeple” are the people that use Twitter – or tweeters if you will. Did you catch all of that?

When I first started at Blue Sky Factory earlier this fall, I was told I needed to join Twitter and start tweeting. Amidst my utter confusion, I signed up and started “following” everyone at Blue Sky Factory and people that they were following. Basically, you follow tweeple and they follow you, meaning you can see each others’ updates. You can direct your message to a certain person but everyone else will see it, so it’s essentially like a big chat room.

Twitter is mainly about building relationships and sharing resources, but it’s also a great tool for creating awareness. You can set up a Twitter feed in your blog so that every time a blog is posted, your Twitter account sends a tweet with a link to your blog. It’s an easy way for partners, clients, co-workers, and other colleagues to stay in tune with your brand – whether it’s your company’s brand or you as a brand. You are able see who other people follow, which is a useful way to build your network.

Twitter is an effective, easy way to complement your existing marketing efforts. You can share information with people (who can then in turn “re-tweet” that information to their network of followers), ask questions and get feedback on your marketing efforts, find people who will be at events or people looking for your product, services, or just your expertise. Social media is making its way into the mainstream and there are oh-so-many useful tools. While Twitter is just one of them, it allows you to reach many people with a short and sweet message, educate yourself, and is easy to use – once you get over the initial “what IS this???”.

Don’t be scared. Sign up, start tweeting, following people, and starting conversations. You’ll get it - I promise. When you do sign up (or if you’re a pro tweeter who just happens to be reading this post), send me a tweet - @amygarland. Happy tweeting!

Remember when we called email the “red headed step-child“? Well, it’s time to show email some respect! You can do this by starting now on your 2009 email marketing schedule. Get a plan out there that your team buys into so that email is no longer an after-thought to a larger marketing campaign.

Here are five tips to help you get started now on your 2009 email schedule:

1. Start Small. If planning for the entire year is too daunting, start with the first quarter, or the first 60 days. Know how many email campaigns you are going to send each month. Will they be newsletters or promotional emails, or both? If you have several departments sending emails, be sure to check with each other first to make sure your emails aren’t going out on the same day. This will keep your recipients from being overwhelmed, and perhaps annoyed, by the number of emails they receive from your company.

2. Think About the Bigger Picture. How will your emails fit into the overall marketing schedule? Use your company’s annual marketing plan as a jumping off point, making sure that your email schedule fits in well with the rest of the marketing pushes. Also, keep your organizational events in mind and be sure to schedule emails around these dates.

3. Remember the Holidays. Plan to send your subscribers holiday greetings, even for the smaller holidays like Valentine’s Day and Fourth of July. This will help to build the relationship further and will make sure you are always in the forefront of their minds. Remembering the holidays also means remembering the “black-out” days. For example, if you are specializing in B2B emails, you should probably avoid emailing on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend or the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, as many people leave work early on these days to extend their holidays.

4. Work Backwards. Once you have your email launch dates planned, work backwards from there to determine when the recipient lists, final copy and creative, subject line, etc. will be due. Add in a little buffer time, just in case. Get your team to buy into this, and there shouldn’t be any last-minute work or surprises. Gosh, wouldn’t that be nice?! To help you get started with this, remember that if you are sending a managed campaign through Blue Sky Factory, we ask for at least 48 hours turnaround time to set up and test campaigns. Please remember to add that time into your schedule to ensure we hit your target launch date.

5. Plan for A/B Testing. You should be performing split tests routinely to determine the best subject line, creative, call to action, landing page, etc. that works for your recipients. A/B test campaigns require a few more days turnaround than straight campaigns, as you need to allow for a few days for the test results from the initial sample group to come through. Buffer this time into your A/B campaign schedules, and plan on doing at least one A/B campaign each quarter. Read more about planning an A/B test campaign here.

Bonus tip: Get Started Today! Before you know it, the holidays will be over and 2009 will be here. Be proactive and get started on your 2009 email schedule now. The sooner you have your schedule developed, the sooner you can start benefiting from it. If you need help developing your email schedule or strategy plan, contact your Blue Sky Factory Account Manager.

As we wind down our busy event schedule of 2008, we’re also gearing up for 2009! Our last (but definitely not least) event of 2008 is:

The One Holiday Party,December 3
Eye Bar - Washington, D.C.
BSF is sponsoring this holiday celebration that unites the DC metro area’s premier advertising, marketing, public relations, media, interactive, and design organizations.

Upcoming 2009 events include:

Email Evolution Conference, February 9-11
Westin Kierland - Scottsdale, AZ
Speaker

Blue Sky Factory has also signed on to sponsor all of CrossTech Media’s national New Marketing Summit events in 2009.

New Marketing Summit, April 28-29
Hilton, Financial District - San Francisco, CA

New Marketing Summit, May 27-28
Dallas Convention Center - Dallas, TX

New Marketing Summit, September 30-October 1
Gillette Stadium - Foxboro, MA

As we begin to celebrate Thanksgiving and think about all of the things we are thankful to have, I begin to wonder – do people really know about all of the features from their email service provider (ESP) that they should be thankful for? I’m sure everyone is aware of the easy list loading, HTML editor, and the ability to send your company’s message to thousands - or even millions - of people with a few clicks of your mouse, but there are so many more features available from ESPs that everyone should be thankful for. So along with our full Thanksgiving Day dinner tables, let me open your eyes to the plentiful services your ESP has to offer you:

Opt-In Forms: Most ESP’s include a simple way to build your list one prospect or customer at a time. All good email marketing begins with permission, and it starts here. Using an opt-in form means saying goodbye to adding new contacts one by one in a list file. Build your list organically by allowing people to easily sign up for your communications. You will reach a highly interested audience - with less workonder – do people really know about all of the many features their email service provider (ESP) offers that they should be thankful for? I’m sure everyone is aware of the easy list loading, and editing tools, and the ability to send your company’s message to thousands - or even millions - of people with a few clicks of your mouse, but there are so many more features available from most ESPs that all marketers should give thanks. So, along with our full Thanksgiving Day dinner tables, let me open your eyes to some of the plentiful features your ESP has to off on your end!

Segmentations: Having a strong list of contacts is an accomplishment within itself, but you can also target your message more strategically. By creating and using segmentations, you can target your contacts by a variety of global conditions (i.e. contacts added after a specific date), database conditions (i.e. contacts with the zip code 11111), or even behavioral conditions (i.e. contacts that opened email “Newsletter1” and clicked on “link #2”). Segmentations can also be used to allow subscribers to set their email preferences, either for preferred email format (HTML or text), frequency, or subject matter.

A/B Testing: A/B testing allows you to test two separate versions of your email or subject lines before sending it to the masses. This way you can find a winning version that is most likely to reach your intended inboxes and intrigue your recipients to open and take action. Publicaster 7.0 will feature an automatic A/B Split test tool built right into the Send/Schedule section!

Auto Response Campaigns: This feature allows your ESP to automatically send another email out to a specific recipient based on either a time based interval or a behavior. This presents the ultimate way to automate some of your most important marketing communications. This feature set can be invaluable for lead / prospect nurturing. Simply set up the campaign to launch at your desired frequency and most systems will take care of the rest. This is great for drip campaigns, which include emails sent in a succession based on when the person signed up.

So not only should you have a plentiful and abundant feast this Thursday, but you also have plentiful features and complimentary services from your ESP that you may not be taking advantage of today. If you have questions using these features, call your ESP’s support line. For Publicaster questions, please contact us at bsfsupport@blueskyfactory.com or 1-866-216-BLUE, and we will be happy to help. Happy Thanksgiving!